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BV  4639  .M5  1896 
Miller,  J.  R.  1840-1912. 
A  gentle  heart 


X  y^  ^^/  /'^  f^iT 


A  GENTLE  HEART 


BY 


J.  R.HMILLER,  D.D. 


AUTHOR    OF    "the    BUILDING    OF    CHARACTER,"    "THINGS    TO    LIVE    FOR, 
"  THE    BLESSING    OF    CHEERFULNESS,"    ETC. 


The  gentle  mitide  by  gentle  deeds  is  k7iowne 

Spensei 


NEW  YORK:   46  East  14TH  Street 

THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  &  COMPANY 

BOSTON  :   100  Purchase  Street 


Copyright,  1896, 
By  Thomas  Y.  Crowell  &  Company 


C.  J.  Peters  &  Son,  Typoorapiikks,  Boston. 


The  battle  was  over.  Two  mighty  armies  had 
met  in  terrific  conflict,  and  the  earth  had  quivered 
beneath  the  shock.  Great  destinies  had  been 
decided. 

After  the  battle,  gentle  women  came  upon  the 
field,  and  went  quietly  and  quickly  among  the 
wounded  and  dying  with  water  and  wine  and  food, 
and  words  of  cheer  and  kindness. 

There  was  diviner  power  in  the  ministry  of 
these  angels  of  comfort  who  came  after  the  battle, 
when  all  was  still,  than  in  the  awful  force  of  the 
battle  itself. 

We  are  strong  only  as  we  are  gentle.  Gentle- 
ness is  the  power  of  God  working  in  the  world. 

J.   R.   M. 
Philadelphia. 


Thy  gentleness  hath  made  me  great. 

David. 


The  Lord's  servant  must  .  .  .  be  gentle  towards  all. 

St.  Paul. 


He  shall  not  cry  aloud,  nor  lift  up  his  voice, 

Nor  cause  it  to  he  heard  in  the  street. 

The  bruised  reed  shall  he  not  break, 

And  the  glimmering  flax  shall  he  not  quench. 

He  vjas  so  tender  ivith  fragile  things, 
He  saw  the  sparrow  ivith  broken  wings. 


A  GENTLE   HEART. 


Gentleness  is  a  beautiful  quality.  It  is  es- 
sential to  all  true  character.  Nobody  admires 
ungentleness  in  man  or  woman.  When  a  man  is 
harsh,  cold,  unfeeling,  unkind,  rude  and  rough  in 
his  manner,  no  one  speaks  of  his  fine  spirit. 
When  a  woman  is  loud-voiced,  dictatorial,  petu- 
lant, given  to  speaking  bitter  words  and  doing  un- 
kindly things,  no  person  is  ever  heard  saying  of 
her,  "  What  a  lovely  disposition  she  has  !  "  She 
may  have  many  excellent  qualities,  and  may  do 
much  good,  but  her  ungentleness  mars  the  beauty 
of  her  character. 

No  man  is  truly  great  who  is  not  gentle.  Cour- 
age and  strength  and  truth  and  justness  and 
righteousness  are  essential  elements  in  a  manly 
character  ;  but  if  all  these  be  in  a  man  and  gentle- 
ness be  wanting,  the  life  is  sadly  flawed.  We 
might  put  the  word  gentleness  into  St.  Paul's 
5 


6  A    GENTLE  HEART. 

wonderful  sentences  and  read  them  thus :  '^  If  I 
speak  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of  angels,  but 
have  not  gentleness,  I  am  become  sounding  brass, 
or  a  clanging  cymbal.  And  if  I  have  the  gift  of 
prophecy,  and  know  all  mysteries  and  all  knowl- 
edge; and  if  I  have  all  faith,  so  as  to  remove 
mountains,  but  have  not  gentleness,  I  am  nothing. 
And  if  I  bestow  all  my  goods  to  feed  the  poor, 
and  if  I  give  my  body  to  be  burned,  but  have  not 
gentleness,  it  profiteth  me  nothing." 

A  beautiful  legend  says  that  one  day  the  angel 
of  the  flowers  —  the  angel  whose  charge  it  is  to 
care  for  the  adorning  of  the  flowers  —  lay  and 
slept  beneath  the  shade  of  a  rose-bush.  Awaking 
from  his  sweet  rex)ose  refreshed,  he  whispered  to 
the  rose,  — 

"  O  fondest  object  of  my  care, 
Still  fairest  found  where  all  are  fair  ; 
For  the  sweet  shade  thou  gavest  me 
Ask  what  thou  wilt,  'tis  granted  thee." 

The  rose  requested  that  another  grace  might  be 
given  to  it.  The  angel  thought  in  silence  what 
grace  there  was  in  all  his  gifts  and  adornments 
which  the  rose  had  not  already.  Then  he  threw 
a  veil  of  moss  over  the  queen  of  the  flowers,  and  a 


A   GENTLE  HEART.  7 

moss-rose  hung  its  head  before  him,  most  beauti- 
ful of  all  roses.  If  any  Christian,  even  the  Christ- 
liest,  would  pray  for  a  new  charm,  an  added  grace 
of  character,  it  may  well  be  for  gentleness.  This 
is  the  crown  of  all  loveliness,  the  Christliest  of 
all  Christly  qualities. 

The  Bible  gives  us  many  a  glimpse  of  gentle- 
ness as  an  attribute  of  God.  We  think  of  the 
law  of  Moses  as  a  great  collection  of  dry  statutes, 
referring  to  ceremonial  observances,  to  forms  of 
worship,  and  to  matters  of  duty.  This  is  one  of 
the  last  places  where  we  would  look  for  anything 
tender.  Yet  he  who  goes  carefully  over  the  chap- 
ters which  contain  these  laws  comes  upon  many 
a  bit  of  gentleness,  like  a  sweet  flower  on  a  cold 
mountain  crag. 

We  think  of  Sinai  as  the  seat  of  law's  stern- 
ness. We  hear  the  voice  of  thunderings,  and  we 
see  the  flashing  of  lightnings.  Clouds  and  dark- 
ness and  all  terribleness  surround  the  mountain. 
The  people  are  kept  far  away  because  of  the  aw- 
ful holiness  of  the  place.  Ko  one  thinks  of  hear- 
ing anything  gentle  at  Sinai.  Yet  scarcely  even 
in  the  New  Testament  is  there  a  more  wonderful 
unveiling  of  the  love  of  the  divine  heart  than 
we  find  among  the  words  spoken  on  that  smoking 


8  A    GENTLE  HEART. 

mountain.  "  And  the  Lord  passed  by  before  him, 
and  proclaimed,  The  Lord,  the  Lord,  a  God  full 
of  compassion  and  gracious,  slow  to  anger,  and 
plenteous  in  mercy  and  truth ;  keeping  mercy 
for  thousands,  forgiving  iniquity  and  transgres- 
sion and  sin.'' 

There  is  another  revealing  of  divine  gentle- 
ness in  the  story  of  Elijah  at  Horeb.  A  great 
and  strong  wind  rent  the  mountains,  and  broke 
in  pieces  the  rocks  —  but  the  Lord  was  not  in 
the  wind.  After  the  storm  there  was  an  earth- 
quake, with  its  frightful  accompaniments  —  but 
the  Lord  was  not  in  the  earthquake.  Then  a 
fire  swept  by  —  but  the  Lord  was  not  in  the  fire. 
After  the  fire  there  was  heard  a  soft  whisper 
breathing  in  the  air,  —  a  still,  small  voice,  a  sound 
of  gentle  stillness.  And  that  was  God.  God  is 
gentle.  With  all  power,  power  that  has  made 
all  the  universe  and  holds  all  things  in  being, 
there  is  no  mother  in  all  the  world  so  gentle  as 
God  is. 

Gentleness  being  a  divine  quality  is  one  which 
belongs  to  the  true  human  character.  We  are 
taught  to  be  perfect  as  our  Father  in  heaven  is 
perfect;  if  we  would  be  like  God,  we  must  be 
gentle. 


A   GENTLE  HEART.  9 

This  world  needs  nothing  more  than  it  needs 
gentleness.  All  human  hearts  hunger  for  tender- 
ness. We  are  made  for  love  —  not  only  to 
love,  but  to  be  loved.  Harshness  pains  us.  Un- 
gentleness  touches  our  sensitive  spirits  as  frost 
touches  the  flowers.  It  stunts  the  growth  of 
all  lovely  things. 

We  naturally  crave  gentleness.  It  is  like  a 
genial  summer  to  our  life.  Beneath  its  warm, 
nourishing  influence  beautiful  things  in  us  grow. 

Then  there  always  are  many  people  who  have 
special  need  of  tenderness.  We  cannot  know 
what  secret  burdens  many  of  those  about  us  are 
carrying,  what  hidden  griefs  burn  like  fires  in 
the  hearts  of  those  with  whom  we  mingle  in  our 
common  life.  Not  all  grief  wears  the  outward 
garb  of  mourning ;  sunny  faces  ofttimes  veil 
heavy  hearts.  Many  people  who  make  no  audi- 
ble appeal  for  sympathy  yet  crave  tenderness  — 
they  certainly  need  it,  though  they  ask  it  not  — 
as  they  bow  beneath  their  burden.  There  is  no 
weakness  in  such  a  yearning.  We  remember  how 
our  Master  himself  longed  for  expressions  of  love 
when  he  was  passing  through  his  deepest  experi- 
ences of  suffering,  and  how  bitterly  he  was  dis- 
appointed when  his  friends  failed  him. 


10  A    GENTLE  HEART. 

Many  a  life  goes  down  in  the  fierce,  hard 
struggle  for  want  of  the  blessing  of  strength 
which  human  tenderness  would  have  brought. 
Many  a  man  owes  his  victoriousness  in  sorrow 
or  in  temptation  to  the  gentleness  which  came  to 
him  in  some  helpful  form  from  a  thoughtful 
friend.  We  know  not  who  of  those  we  meet 
any  day  need  the  help  which  our  gentleness 
could  give.  Life  is  not  easy  to  most  people. 
Its  duties  are  hard.  Its  burdens  are  heavy.  Its 
strain  never  relaxes.  There  is  no  truce  in  its 
battle.  This  world  is  not  friendly  to  noble  liv- 
ing. There  are  countless  antagonisms.  Heaven 
can  be  reached  by  any  of  us  only  by  passing 
through  serried  lines  of  strong  enmity.  Human 
help  is  not  always  ready  when  it  would  be  wel- 
comed. Too  often  men  find  indifference  or  op- 
position where  they  ought  to  find  love.  Life's 
rivalries  and  competitions  are  sharp  and  ofttimes 
deadly.     One  writes  :  — 

Our  life  is  like  a  narrow  raft 
Afloat  upon  the  hungry  sea, 
Whereon  is  but  a  little  space  ; 
And  each  man,  eager  for  a  place, 
Doth  thrust  his  brother  in  the  sea. 
And  so  the  sea  is  salt  with  tears, 
And  so  our  life  is  worn  with  fears. 


A   GENTLE  HEART.  11 

We  can  never  do  amiss  in  showing  gentleness. 
There  is  no  day  when  it  will  be  untimely ;  there 
is  no  place  where  it  will  not  find  welcome.  It 
will  harm  no  one,  and  it  may  save  some  one  from 
despair.  The  touch  of  a  child  on  a  woman's  hand 
saved  a  life  from  self-destruction. 

It  is  interesting  to  think  of  the  new  era  of  love 
which  Jesus  opened.  Of  course  there  was  gentle- 
ness in  the  world  before  he  came.  There  was 
mother-love.  There  was  friendship,  deep,  true, 
and  tender.  There  were  lovers  who  were  bound 
together  with  most  sacred  ties.  There  were  hearts 
even  among  heathen  people  in  which  there  was 
gentleness  almost  beautiful  enough  for  heaven. 
There  w^ere  holy  places  where  affection  ministered 
with  angel  tenderness. 

Yet  the  world  at  large  was  full  of  cruelty.  The 
rich  oppressed  the  poor.  The  strong  crushed  the 
weak.  Women  were  slaves  and  men  were  tyrants. 
There  was  no  hand  of  love  reached  out  to  help 
the  sick,  the  lame,  the  blind,  the  old,  the  de- 
formed, the  insane,  nor  any  to  care  for  the  widow, 
the  orphan,  the  homeless. 

Then  Jesus  came ;  and  for  three  and  thirty 
years  he  went  about  among  men,  doing  kindly 
things.     He  had   a   gentle    heart,  and    gentleness 


12  A   GENTLE  HEART. 

flowed  out  in  his  speech.  He  spoke  words  which 
throbbed  with  tenderness.  Mr.  Longfellow  said 
that  that  was  no  sermon  to  him,  however  elo- 
quent or  learned  or  beautiful,  in  which  he  could 
not  hear  the  heart-beat.  There  was  never  any 
uncertainty  about  the  heart-beat  in  the  words 
which  fell  from  the  lips  of  Jesus.  They  throbbed 
with  sympathy  and  tenderness. 

The  people  knew  always  that  Jesus  was  their 
friend.  His  life  was  full  of  rich  helpfulness. 
No  wrong  or  cruelty  ever  made  him  ungentle. 
He  scattered  kindness  wherever  he  moved. 


"  The  best  of  men 
That  e'er  wore  earth  about  him  was  a  sufferer, 
A  soft,  meek,  patient,  humble,  tranquil  spirit. 
The  first  true  gentleman  that  ever  breathed." 


One  day  they  nailed  those  gentle  hands  upon 
a  cross.  After  that  the  people  missed  him,  for 
he  came  no  more  to  their  homes.  It  was  a  sore 
loss  to  the  poor  and  the  sad,  and  there  must  have 
been  grief  in  many  a  household.  But  while  the 
personal  ministry  of  Jesus  was  ended  by  his 
death,  the  influence  of  his  life  went  on.  He  had 
set  the  world   a  new  example  of  love,     fie  had 


A    GENTLE  HEART.  13 

taught  lessons  of  patience  and  meekness  which 
no  other  teacher  had  ever  given.  He  had  im- 
parted new  meaning  to  human  affection.  He 
had  made  love  the  law  of  his  kingdom. 

As  one  might  drop  a  handful  of  spices  into  the 
brackish  sea,  and  therewith  sweeten  its  waters, 
so  these  teachings  of  Jesus  fell  into  the  w^orld's 
unloving,  unkindly  life,  and  at  once  began  to 
change  it  into  gentleness.  Wherever  the  gospel 
has  gone  these  sayings  of  the  great  Teacher  have 
been  carried,  and  have  fallen  into  people's  hearts, 
leaving  there  their  blessings  of  gentleness. 

The  influence  of  the  death  of  Jesus  also  has 
wonderfully  helped  in  teaching  the  great  lesson 
of  gentleness.  It  was  love  that  died  upon  the 
cross.  A  heart  broke  that  day  on  Calvary.  A 
great  sorrow  always,  for  the  time  at  least,  softens 
hearts.  A  piece  of  crape  on  a  door  touches  with 
at  least  momentary  tenderness  all  who  pass  by. 
Loud  laughter  is  subdued  even  in  the  most  care- 
less who  see  the  fluttering  emblem  which  tells 
that  there  is  sorrow  within.  A  noble  sacrifice, 
as  when  a  life  is  given  in  the  effort  to  help  or 
to  save  others,  always  makes  other  hearts  a  little 
truer,  a  little  braver,  a  little  nobler  in  their  im- 
pulses. 


14  A    GENTLE  HEART. 

"  No  life 
Can  be  pure  in  its  purpose  and  strong  in  its  strife, 
And  all  life  not  be  purer  and  stronger  thereby." 

The  influence  of  the  death  of  Jesus  on  this 
world's  life  is  immeasurable.  The  cross  is  like 
a  great  heart  of  love  beating  at  the  centre  of 
the  world,  sending  its  ^Dulsings  of  tenderness  into 
all  lands.  The  life  of  Christ  beats  in  the  hearts 
of  his  followers,  and  all  Avho  love  him  have  some- 
thing of  his  gentleness.  The  love  of  Jesus 
kindles  love  in  every  believing  heart.  That  is 
the  lesson  set  for  all  of  us  in  the  New  Testament. 
We  are  taught  that  we  should  love  as  Jesus  loved, 
that  we  should  be  kind  as  he  was  kind,  that  his 
meekness,  patience,  thoughtfulness,  selflessness, 
should  be  reproduced  in  us. 

There  is  need  for  the  lesson  of  gentleness 
in  homes.  There  love's  sweetest  flowers  should 
bloom.  There  we  should  always  carry  our  purest 
and  best  affections.  No  matter  how  heavy  the 
burdens  of  the  day  have  been,  when  we  gather 
home  at  nightfall  we  should  take  only  cheer  and 
light.  No  one  has  any  right  to  be  ungentle  in 
his  own  home.  If  he  finds  himself  in  such  a 
mood  he  should  go  to  his  room  till  it  has  van- 
ished. 


A    GENTLE  HEART.  15 

The  mother's  life  is  not  easy,  however  happy 
she  may  be.  Her  hours  are  long,  and  her  load 
of  care  is  never  laid  down.  When  one  day's 
tasks  are  finished,  and  she  seeks  her  pillow  for 
rest,  she  knows  that  her  eyes  will  open  in  the 
morning  on  another  day  full  as  the  one  that  is 
gone.  With  children  about  her  continually,  tug- 
ging at  her  dress,  climbing  up  on  her  knee,  bring- 
ing their  little  hurts,  their  quarrels,  their  broken 
toys,  their  complaints,  their  thousand  questions 
to  her,  and  then  with  all  the  cares  and  toils  that 
are  hers,  and  w4th  all  the  interruptions  and  annoy- 
ances of  the  busy  days,  it  is  no  wonder  if  some- 
times the  strain  is  almost  more  than  she  can 
endure  in  quiet  patience. 

Nevertheless,  we  should  all  try  to  learn  the 
lesson  of  gentleness  in  our  homes.  It  is  the 
lesson  that  is  needed  to  make  the  home-happiness 
a  little  like  heaven's.  Home  is  meant  to  be  a 
place  to  grow  in.  It  is  a  school  in  which  we 
should  learn  love  in  all  its  branches.  It  is  not 
a  place  for  selfishness  or  for  self-indulgence.  It 
should  never  be  a  place  where  a  man  can  work 
off  his  ill-humor  after  trying  to  keep  polite  and 
courteous  all  day  outside.  It  is  not  a  place  for 
the  opening  of  doors  of  heart  and  lips  to  let  ugly 


16  A    GENTLE  HEART. 

tempers  fly  out  like  ill-omened  birds,  and  soar 
about  at  will.  It  is  not  a  place  where  people 
can  act  as  they  feel,  however  unchristian  their 
feelings  may  be,  withdrawing  the  guards  of  self- 
control,  relaxing  all  restraints,  and  letting  their 
worse  self  have  sway.  Home  is  a  school  in 
which  there  are  great  life-lessons  to  be  learned. 
It  is  a  place  of  self-discipline.  All  friendship 
is  discipline.  We  learn  to  give  up  our  own  way, 
—  or  if  we  do  not  we  never  can  become  a  true 
friend. 

The  great  business  of  a  true  Christian  life  is 
to  learn  to  love.  Mr.  Browning,  in  his  "  Death 
in  the  Desert,''  puts  into  the  mouth  of  the  dying 
St.  John  these  words  :  — 

For  life,  with  all  it  yields  of  joy  or  woe, 
And  hope  and  fear  —  believe  the  aged  friend  — 
Is  just  our  chance  o'  the  prize  of  learning  love, 
How  love  might  be,  hath  been  indeed,  and  is; 
And  that  we  hold  thenceforth  to  the  uttermost 
Such  prize  despite  the  envy  of  the  world. 

It  is  well  that  we  get  this  truth  clearly  before 
us,  that  life  with  all  its  experiences  is  just  our 
chance  of  learning  love.  The  lesson  is  set  for 
us,  —  "  Thou  shalt  love  ;  "  "  As  I  have  loved  you, 
that  ye  also  love  one  another."     Our  one  thing  is 


A    GENTLE  HEART.  17 

to  master  this  lesson.  We  are  not  in  this  world 
to  get  rich,  to  gain  power,  to  become  learned  in 
the  arts  and  sciences,  to  build  up  a  great  business, 
or  to  do  large  things  in  any  line.  We  are  not 
here  to  get  along  in  our  daily  work,  in  our  shops, 
or  schools,  or  homes,  or  on  our  farms.  We  are 
not  here  to  j)reach  the  gospel,  to  comfort  sorrow, 
to  visit  the  sick,  and  perform  deeds  of  charity. 
All  of  these,  or  any  of  these,  may  be  among  our 
duties,  and  they  may  fill  our  hands ;  but  in  all 
our  occupations  the  real  business  of  life,  that 
which  we  are  always  to  strive  to  do,  the  work 
which  must  go  on  in  all  our  experiences,  if  we 
grasp  life's  true  meaning  at  all,  is  to  learn  to 
love,  and  to  grow  loving  in  disposition  and  char- 
acter. 

We  may  learn  the  finest  arts  of  life,  —  music, 
painting,  sculpture,  poetry,  or  may  master  the 
noblest  sciences,  or  by  means  of  reading,  study, 
travel,  and  converse  with  refined  people,  may  at- 
tain the  best  culture ;  but  if  in  all  this  we  do 
not  learn  love,  and  become  more  gentle  in  spirit 
and  act,  we  have  missed  the  prize  of  living. 
If  in  the  midst  of  all  our  duties,  cares,  trials, 
joys,  sorrows,  we  are  not  day  by  day  growing 
in  sweetness,  in  gentleness,  in  patience,  in  meek- 


18  A    GENTLE  HEART. 

ness,  in  unselfishness,  in  thonghtfulness,  and  in 
all  the  branches  of  love,  we  are  not  learning 
the  great  lesson  set  for  us  by  our  Master  in 
this  school  of  life. 

We  should  be  gentle  above  all  to  those  we 
love  the  best.  There  is  an  inner  circle  of  affec- 
tion to  which  each  heart  has  a  right  without 
robbing  others.  While  we  are  to  be  gentle  unto 
all  men,  —  never  ungentle  to  any,  —  there  are 
those  to  whom  we  owe  special  tenderness.  Those 
within  our  own  home  belong  to  this  sacred  inner 
circle.  Much  is  said  of  the  importance  of  reli- 
gion in  the  home.  A  home  without  religion  is 
dreary  and  unblest  indeed.  But  we  must  make 
sure  that  our  home  religion  is  true  and  real, 
that  it  is  of  the  spirit  and  life,  and  not  merely 
in  form.  It  must  be  love  —  love  wrought  out 
in  thought,  in  word,  in  disposition,  in  act.  It 
must  show  itself  not  only  in  patience,  forbear- 
ance, and  self-control,  and  in  sweetness  under 
provocation,  but  also  in  all  gentle  thoughtful- 
nesses,  and  in  little  tender  ways  in  all  the  family 
intercourse. 

Ko  amount  of  good  religious  teaching  will  ever 
make  up  for  the  lack  of  affectionateness  in  par- 
ents   toward    children.      A    gentleman    said    the 


A    GENTLE  HEART.  19 

other  day,  "My  mother  was  a  good  woman. 
She  insisted  on  her  boys  going  to  church  and 
Sunday-school,  and  taught  us  to  pray.  But  I 
do  not  remember  that  she  ever  kissed  me," 
She  was  a  woman  of  lofty  principle,  but  cold, 
undemonstrative,  repressed,  wanting  in  tender- 
ness. 

It  matters  not  how  much  Bible-reading  and 
prayer  and  catechism-saying  and  godly  teaching 
there  may  be  in  a  home,  if  gentleness  is  lacking, 
that  is  lacking  which  most  of  all  the  young 
need  in  the  life  of  their  home.  A  child  must 
have  love.  Love  is  to  its  life  what  sunshine 
is  to  plants  and  flowers.  ISTo  young  life  can 
ever  grow  to  its  best  in  a  home  without  gentle- 
ness. 

Yet  there  are  parents  who  forget  this,  or  fail 
to  realize  its  importance.  There  are  homes  where 
the  sceptre  is  iron,  where  affection  is  repressed, 
where  a  child  is  never  kissed  after  baby  days 
are  passed.  A  woman  of  genius  said  that  until 
she  was  eighteen  she  could  not  tell  time  by  the 
clock.  When  she  was  twelve  her  father  had 
tried  to  teach  her  how  to  know  the  hour;  but 
she  had  failed  to  understand  him,  and  feared 
to   let  him  know  she   had  not  understood.     Yet 


20  A    GENTLE  HEART. 

she  said  he  had  never  in  his  life  spoken  to  her 
a  harsh  word.  On  the  other  hand,  however,  he 
had  never  spoken  an  endearing  word  to  her ;  and 
his  marble-like  coldness  had  frozen  her  heart. 
After  his  death  she  wrote  of  him,  "His  heart 
was  pure  —  but  terrible.  I  think  there  was  no 
other  like  it  on  the  earth." 

I  have  a  letter  from  a  j'oung  girl  of  eighteen 
in  another  city  —  a  stranger,  of  whose  family  I 
have  no  personal  knowledge.  The  child  writes 
to  me,  not  to  complain,  but  to  ask  counsel  as 
to  her  own  duty.  Hers  is  a  home  where  love 
finds  no  adequate  expression  in  affectionateness. 
Both  her  parents  are  professing  Christians,  but 
evidently  they  have  trained  themselves  to  re- 
press whatever  tenderness  there  may  be  in  their 
nature.  This  young  girl  is  hungry  for  home- 
love,  and  writes  to  ask  if  there  is  any  way  in 
which  she  can  reach  her  parents'  hearts  to  find 
the  treasures  of  love  which  she  believes  are 
locked  away  there.  "  I  know  they  love  me," 
she  writes.  "They  would  give  their  lives  for 
me.  But  my  heart  is  breaking  for  expressions 
of  that  love."  She  is  starving  for  love's  daily 
food. 

It   is    to   be    feared   that   there    are  too  many 


A    GENTLE  HEART.  21 

such  homes,  —  Christian  homes,  with  prayer  and 
godly  teaching,  and  with  pure,  consistent  living, 
but  with  no  daily  bread  of  lovingness  for  hungry 
hearts. 

"  The  lonely  heart  that  knows  not  love's 
Soft  power,  or  friendship's  ties, 
Is  like  yon  withering  flower  that  bows 
Its  gentle  head  touched  to  the  quick 
For  that  the  genial  sun  hath  hid  its  light, 
And,  sighing,  dies." 

An  earnest  plea  is  made  for  love's  gentleness 
in  homes.  Nothing  else  will  take  its  place. 
There  inay  be  fine  furniture,  rich  carpets,  costly 
pictures,  a  large  library  of  excellent  volumes, 
instruments  of  music,  and  all  luxuries  and  adorn- 
ments;  and  there  may  be  religious  forms,  —  a 
family  altar,  good  instruction,  and  consistent 
Christian  living;  but  if  gentleness  is  wanting 
in  the  family  intercourse  the  lack  is  one  which 
leaves  an  irreparable  hurt  in  the  lives  of  the 
children. 

It  is  one  of  the  superstitions  of  an  Indian 
tribe  that  they  can  send  their  love  by  a  bird 
to  their  dead.  When  a  maiden  dies  they  im- 
prison a  young  bird  until  it  first  begins  to  sing. 
Then  they  load   it  with  kisses   and  caresses,  and 


22  A    GENTLE  HEART. 

set  it  at  liberty  over  the  grave  of  the  maiden 
who  has  died.  They  believe  that  the  bird  will 
not  fold  its  wings  nor  close  its  eyes  until  it 
has  flown  to  the  spirit-land,  and  delivered  its 
precious  burden  of  affection  to  the  loved  one 
there.  It  is  not  uncommon  for  twenty  or  thirty 
birds  to  be  unloosed  by  different  relatives  and 
friends  over  the  same  grave. 

There  are  many  people  who  when  their  loved 
ones  die  wish  they  could  send  thus  by  some  bird- 
messenger  words  of  love  and  tenderness  which 
they  have  never  spoken  while  their  friends  were 
close  beside  them.  In  too  many  homes  gentle- 
ness is  not  manifested  while  the  circle  is  un- 
broken ;  and  the  hearts  ache  for  the  privilege  of 
showing  kindness,  perhaps  for  the  opportunity 
of  unsaying  words  and  undoing  acts  which  caused 
pain.  AYe  would  better  learn  the  lesson  of  gen- 
tleness in  time,  and  then  fill  our  home  with  love 
while  we  may.  It  will  not  be  very  long  until 
our  chance  of  showing  love  shall  have  been  used 
up.     As  George  Klingle  says,  — 

They  are  such  dear,  familiar  feet  that  go 
Along  the  path  with  ours  —  feet  fast  or  slow, 
And  trying  to  keep  pace.     If  they  mistake, 
And  tread  upon  some  flower  we  would  take 


A   GENTLE  HEART.  23 

Upon  our  breast,  or  bruise  some  reed, 

Or  crush  poor  hope  until  it  bleed, 

We  may  be  mute, 

Not  turning  quickly  to  impute 

Grave  fault  ;  for  they  and  we 

Have  such  a  little  way  to  go  —  can  be 

Together  such  a  little  while  along  the  way. 

We  will  be  patient  while  we  may. 

But  home  is  not  the  only  place  where  we  should 
be  gentle.  If  the  inner  circle  of  life's  holy  place 
have  claim  on  us  for  the  best  that  our  love  can 
yield,  the  common  walks  and  the  wider  circle 
also  have  claim  for  very  true  love.  Our  Master 
manifested  himself  to  his  own  as  he  did  not  to 
the  world ;  but  the  world,  even  his  crudest  ene- 
mies, never  received  anything  of  ungentleness 
from  him.  The  heart's  most  sacred  revealings 
are  for  the  heart's  chosen  and  trusted  ones,  as  the 
secret  of  the  Lord  is  with  them  that  fear  him; 
but  we  are  to  be  gentle  unto  all  men,  as  our 
Father  sends  his  rain  upon  the  just  and  upon  the 
unjust.  What  we  learn  under  home's  roof,  in 
the  close  fellowships  of  household  life,  we  are  to 
live  out  in  our  associations  outside.  As  Moses' 
face  shone  Avhen  he  came  down  among  the  people, 
after  being  with  God  in  the  mount,  so  our  faces 
should  carry  the  warmth  and  gloAV  of  tenderness 


24  A   GENTLE  HEART. 

from  love's  inner  shrine  out  into  the  places  of 
ordinary  intercourse.  What  we  learn  of  love's 
lesson  in  our  home  we  should  put  into  practice  in 
our  life  in  the  world,  in  the  midst  of  its  strifes, 
rivalries,  competitions,  frictions,  and  manifold 
trials  and  testings. 

We  must  never  forget  that  religion  in  its  prac- 
tical outworking  is  love.  Some  people  think  reli- 
gion is  orthodoxy  of  belief,  —  that  he  who  has  a 
good  creed  is  religious.  We  must  remember  that 
the  Pharisees  had  a  good  creed,  were  orthodox; 
yet  we  have  our  Lord's  testimony  that  their 
religion  did  not  please  God.  It  lacked  love.  It 
was  self-righteous,  unmerciful.  Others  think  re- 
ligion consists  in  the  punctilious  observance  of 
forms  of  worship.  If  they  are  always  at  church 
on  Sundays  and  other  church  days,  and  if  only 
they  attend  to  all  the  ordinances,  and  follow  all 
the  rules,  they  are  religious.  Yet  sometimes  they 
are  not  easy  people  to  live  with.  They  are  cen- 
sorious, dictatorial,  judges  of  others,  exacting, 
severe  in  mannner,  caustic  in  speech.  Let  no 
one  imagine  that  any  degree  of  devotion  to  the 
church  and  diligence  in  observing  ordinances  will 
ever  pass  with  God  for  true  religion  if  one  has 
not  love,  is  not  loving  and  gentle. 


A   GENTLE  HEART.  25 

Eeligion  is  love.  A  good  creed  is  well ;  but 
doctrines  which  do  not  become  life  of  gentleness 
in  character  and  disposition,  in  speech  and  in  con- 
duct, are  not  fruitful  doctrines.  Church  attend- 
ance and  Sunday-keeping  and  ecclesiasticism  are 
right  and  good  ;  but  they  are  only  means  to  an  end, 
and  the  end  is  lovingness.  The  religious  observ- 
ances which  do  not  work  in  us  better  thoughts, 
diviner  affections,  sweeter  life,  are  not  profiting 
us.  The  final  object  of  all  Christian  life  and 
worship  is  to  make  us  more  like  Christ,  and 
Christ  is  love.  For  the  whole  law  is  fulfilled  in 
one  word,  even  in  this,  ^^Thou  shalt  love." 

There  is  a  beautiful  legend  of  the  sweet-toned 
bell  of  the  angels  in  heaven  which  softly  rings 
at  twilight.  Its  notes  make  a  music  supremely 
entrancing.  But  none  can  hear  it  save  those 
only  whose  hearts  are  free  from  passion  and  clear 
of  unlovingnesr  and  all  sin.  This  is  only  a  legend. 
No  one  on  earth  can  hear  the  ringing  of  the  bells 
of  heaven.  But  there  is  a  sweeter  music  which 
the  lowliest  may  hear.  Those  who  live  the  gentle 
life  of  patient,  thoughtful,  selfless  love  make  a 
music  whose  strains  are  enrapturing. 

"  The  heart  that  feels  the  approval 
That  comes  from  a  kindly  deed 


26  A   GENTLE  HEART. 

Knows  well  there's  no  sweeter  music 
On  which  the  spirit  can  feed. 

In  sweet' ning  the  life  of  another, 
In  relieving  a  brother's  distress, 

The  soul  finds  its  highest  advancement, 
And  the  noblest  blessedness. 

That  life  is  alone  worth  the  living 
That  lives  for  another's  gain  ; 

The  life  that  comes  after  such  living 
Is  the  rainbow  after  the  rain. 

This  spirit  of  human  kindness 
Is  the  angel  the  soul  most  needs  ; 

It  sings  its  most  wonderful  psean, 

While  the  heart  does  its  noblest  deeds.' 


"  How  can  we  learn  this  lesson  of  gentleness  ?  " 
some  one  asks  almost  in  disheartenment.  Many 
of  us  seem  never  to  master  it.  AVe  go  on  through 
life,  enjoying  the  means  of  grace,  and  striving 
more  or  less  earnestly  to  grow  better.  Yet  our 
progress  appears  to  be  very  slow.  We  desire 
to  learn  love's  lesson,  but  it  comes  out  very 
slowly  in  our  life. 

AVe  must  note,  first  of  all,  that  the  lesson 
has  to  be  learned.  It  does  not  come  naturally, 
at  least  to  most  people.  We  find  it  hard  to  be 
gentle  always  and  to  all  kinds  of  people.     Per- 


A    GENTLE  HEART.  27 

haps  we  can  be  gentle  on  sunny  days;  but  when 
the  east  wind  blows  we  grow  fretful,  and  lose 
our  sweetness.  Or  we  can  be  gentle  without 
much  effort  to  some  gentle-spirited  people,  while 
perhaps  we  are  almost  unbearably  ungentle  to 
others.  We  are  gracious  and  sweet  to  those  who 
are  gracious  to  us  5  but  when  people  are  rude  to 
us,  when  they  treat  us  unkindly,  Avhen  they 
seem  unworthy  of  our  love,  it  is  not  so  easy 
to  be  gentle  to  them.  Yet  that  is  the  lesson 
which  is  everywhere  taught  in  the  Scriptures, 
and  which  the  Master  has  set  for  us. 

It  is  a  comfort  to  us  to  know  that  the  lesson 
has  to  be  learned,  and  does  not  come  as  a  gift 
or  something  bestowed.  We  must  learn  to  be 
gentle,  just  as  artists  learn  to  paint  lovely  pic- 
tures. They  spend  years  and  years  under  mas- 
ters, and  in  patient,  toilsome  effort,  before  they 
can  paint  pictures  which  at  all  realize  the  lovely 
visions  of  their  soul.  It  is  a  still  more  difficult 
art  to  learn  to  reproduce  visions  of  love  in  hu- 
man life,  —  to  be  always  patient,  gentle,  kind. 
It  gives  us  encouragement,  as  we  are  striving 
to  get  our  lesson,  to  read  the  words  in  which 
St.  Paul  says  that  he  had  learned  to  be  content 
wherever  he  was.     It  adds,  too,  to  the   measure 


28  A    GENTLE  HEART. 

of  our  encouragement  to  see  from  the  chro- 
nology of  the  letter  in  which  we  find  this  bit 
of  autobiography,  that  the  apostle  was  well  on 
toward  the  close  of  his  life  when  he  wrote  so 
triumphantly  of  this  attainment.  We  may  infer 
that  it  was  not  easy  for  him  to  learn  the  lesson 
of  contentment,  and  that  he  was  quite  an  old 
man  before  he  had  mastered  it. 

It  is  probably  as  hard  to  learn  to  be  gentle 
always  as  it  is  to  learn  always  to  be  contented. 
It  will  take  time,  and  close,  unwearying  appli- 
cation. We  must  set  ourselves  resolutely  to  the 
task ;  for  the  lesson  is  one  that  we  must  not  fail 
to  learn,  unless  we  would  fail  in  growing  into 
Christliness.  It  is  not  a  matter  of  small  im- 
portance —  something  merely  that  is  desirable 
but  not  essential.  Gentleness  is  not  a  mere 
ornament  of  life,  which  one  may  have,  or  may 
not  have,  as  one  may,  or  may  not,  wear  jewels 
or  precious  stones.  It  is  not  a  mere  frill  of 
character,  which  adds  to  its  beauty,  but  is  not 
part  of  it.  Gentleness  is  essential  in  every  true 
Christian  life.  It  is  part  of  its  very  warp  and 
woof.     Not  to  be  gentle  is  not  to  be  a  Christian. 

Therefore  the  lesson  must  be  learned.  The 
golden  threads  must  be  woven  into  the  texture. 


A   GENTLE  HEART.  29 

Nothing  less  than  the  gentleness  of  Christ  him- 
self must  be  accepted  as  the  pattern  after  which 
we  are  to  fashion  our  life  and  character.  Then, 
every  day  some  progress  must  be  made  toward 
the  attainment  of  this  ideal  beauty.  A  sentence 
of  Mr.  Euskin's  comes  in  here :  "  See  that  no 
day  passes  in  which  you  do  not  make  yourself 
a  somewhat  better  creature."  The  motto  of  an 
old  artist  was,  "l^o  day  without  a  line."  If  we 
set  before  us  the  perfect  standard,  —  the  gentle- 
ness of  our  Master,  —  and  then  every  day  make 
some  distinct  advance,  though  it  be  but  a  line, 
toward  the  reproducing  of  this  gentleness  in  our 
own  life,  we  shall  at  last  wear  the  shining  beauty. 
We  must  never  rest  satisfied  with  any  partial 
attainment.  Just  so  far  as  we  are  still  ungentle, 
rude  to  any  one,  even  to  a  beggar,  sharp  in  speech, 
haughty  in  bearing,  unkind  in  any  way  to  a  hu- 
man being,  the  lesson  is  yet  imperfectly  learned, 
and  we  must  continue  our  diligence.  We  must 
get  control  of  our  temper,  and  must  master  all 
our  moods  and  feelings.  We  must  train  our- 
selves to  check  any  faintest  risings  of  irritation, 
turning  it  instantly  into  an  impulse  of  tender- 
ness. We  must  school  ourselves  to  be  thought- 
ful, patient,   charitable,  and  to   desire  always  to 


30  A    GENTLE  HEART. 

do  good.  The  way  to  acquire  any  grace  of  char- 
acter is  to  compel  thought,  word,  and  act  in  the 
one  channel  until  the  lovely  quality  has  become 
a  permanent  part  of  our  Hie. 

There  is  something  else.  We  never  can  learn 
the  lesson  ourselves  alone.  To  have  gentleness 
in  one's  life  one  must  have  a  gentle  heart.  Mere 
human  gentleness  is  not  enough.  We  need  more 
than  training  and  self-discixjline.  Our  heart  must 
be  made  over  before  it  will  yield  the  life  of  per- 
fect lovingness.  It  is  full  of  self  and  pride  and 
hatred  and  envy  and  all  un  divine  qualities.  The 
gentleness  that  the  New  Testament  holds  up  to 
us  as  the  standard  of  Christian  living  is  too  high 
for  any  mere  human  attainment.  We  need  that 
God  shall  work  in  us  to  help  us  to  produce  the 
loveliness  that  is  in  the  pattern.  And  this  divine 
co-working  is  promised.  "  The  fruit  of  the  Spirit 
is  .  .  .  gentleness."  The  Holy  Spirit  will  help 
us  to  learn  the  lesson,  working  in  our  heart  and 
life  the  sweetness  of  love,  the  gentleness  of  dis- 
position, and  the  graciousness  of  manner,  which 
will  please  God. 

There  is  a  legend  of  a  great  artist.  One  day 
he  had  wrought  long  on  his  picture,  but  was  dis- 
couraged, for  he  could  not  produce  on  his  canvas 


A   GENTLE  HEART.  31 

the  beauty  of  Ms  souPs  vision.  He  was  weary 
too ;  and  sinking  down  on  a  stool  by  his  easel,  he 
fell  asleep.  While  he  slept  an  angel  came;  and, 
taking  the  brushes  which  had  dropped  from  the 
tired  hands,  he  finished  the  picture  in  marvellous 
way. 

When  we  toil  and  strive  in  the  name  of  Christ 
to  learn  our  lesson  of  gentleness,  and  yet  grow 
disheartened  and  weary  because  we  learn  it  so 
slowly,  Christ  himself  comes,  and  puts  on  our 
canvas  the  touches  of  beauty  which  our  own  un- 
skilled hands  cannot  produce. 

"  If  only  we  strive  to  be  pm-e  and  true, 

To  each  of  us  all  there  will  come  an  hour 
When  the  tree  of  life  shall  burst  into  flower, 
And  rain  at  our  feet  the  glorious  dower 
Of  something  grander  than  we  ever  knew. 

If  only  we  strive  to  be  pure  and  true, 
The  foam  of  the  sea  will  lower  its  crest. 
And  the  weary  waves  that  we  used  to  breast 
Will  sob  and  turn,  and  sink  slowly  to  rest 

With  a  tender  calm  all  over  and  through." 


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